diff --git a/ntfsprogs/ntfsfix.c b/ntfsprogs/ntfsfix.c
index 48e8a782..da92fadc 100644
--- a/ntfsprogs/ntfsfix.c
+++ b/ntfsprogs/ntfsfix.c
@@ -784,7 +784,9 @@ static ATTR_RECORD *find_unnamed_attr(MFT_RECORD *mrec, ATTR_TYPES type)
 			/* fetch the requested attribute */
 	offset = le16_to_cpu(mrec->attrs_offset);
 	a = (ATTR_RECORD*)((char*)mrec + offset);
-	while ((offset < le32_to_cpu(mrec->bytes_in_use))
+	while (((offset + le32_to_cpu(a->length))
+			< le32_to_cpu(mrec->bytes_in_use))
+	    && !(le32_to_cpu(a->length) & 7)
 	    && (a->type != AT_END)
 	    && ((a->type != type) || a->name_length)) {
 		offset += le32_to_cpu(a->length);